The traditional flagpole is well known in the art. It comprises a much elevated pole fixed at a base, from which pole a pennant or flag can be attached and displayed. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,476,929 and 4,237,530 discloses that for quite some time, those skilled in the art have been attempting to place lights at the top of tall poles by respectively either attaching a dome light above an adjacent flag or to provide a lighting array that can be lifted into position with the flag removed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,696 continued the effort of the '530 patent to raise and lower a lighting array from a ground level to U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,283, 7,275,495 and D652,975 and US Application Pub. 2012/0314404 disclose other dome lights for the top ends of flagpoles. The focus of lighting at the tops of flagpoles has been to illuminate the flags, i.e., the dome lights provide an umbrella-like lighting generally incapable of substantial illumination of the distant ground surrounding the flagpole. This is well explained in the '495 patent:
“Pole-mounted flags, banners, pennants and the like, whether representative of a nation, company, university, athletic team, or other organization, represent a source of pride to those who display them. Generally, such flags and the like cannot be adequately displayed at night because of poor visibility. Because many people would prefer that their flag be seen at all times of the day or night and at any time of the year, it is common to try to illuminate such flags so that they are always visible.”
A category of flagpoles have generally been available for many years for residential users. Due to a desire for minimal base support construction at a residence and zoned height limits, flagpoles for residential users are lightweight, have relatively small diameters, and are sometimes made of segments that are detachable to achieve a height desired by a residential user or to take the flagpole down entirely in long seasons of bad weather when a flag would not be used. Residential height flagpoles as described herein are generally between 7 to 25 feet in height and are capable of being erected or taken down by a one or two people from a fixture base of a concrete block or pad, a tire mount, a dock mount or a wall mount, all of which hold the flagpole in a vertical position. A pulley system may be available to raise and lower a flag or the user may take the flagpole down to secure a flag to a top position. In any case, the residential category of flagpoles generally makes available to a user the top of the flagpole with relatively little effort, ladders or special lift equipment.
While lighting systems have long been attempted (but with little actual commercial success) for the tops of commercial height flagpoles, little has been proposed for the relatively shorter residential flagpole. First, the need for flag illumination for the residential flagpole is solved far too easily by pointing a cheap outdoor spotlight or flood light at the flag, which is adequate of the relatively short height of the residential flagpole. Most important, night time lighting is rarely desired because of the nuisance effect of such lighting for the home about which it might be arranged or for the neighboring homes.
FIG. 1 shows a generalized depiction of a residential flagpole 10 comprising multiple pipe or cylinder sections 12 and 13 joined at a junction 15 and separateable by pressing button 15. A topmost end of section 12 defines a threaded hole 16 into which a decorative device 17 is removeably fixed by a bolt at a bottom end. Flag 11 is generally removeably fixed to section 12 or to sections 12 and 13 to provide an appropriate display of flag 11. Residential flagpoles are structurally significantly different than their commercial height relatives. Commercial height flagpoles require special engineering due to considerations of harm that might be done if they were to fall, requiring heavy, reinforced tubular columns. In contrast, the residential flagpole is generally formed of lightweight steel or aluminum tubing (and can even be collapsible, as shown in the product at http://www.americanflagsexpress.com/poles/pole_04.htm), where the relatively low total height and small flags used result in a structure that can support very little additional weight at the flag height. Addition of lighting to residential flagpoles has been generally disfavored for the problem of adding so much weight at the flag height due to the potential of causing a failure of the pole in high winds or harsh weather.
Notwithstanding the lack of potential value for adding night lighting to residential flagpoles, the present inventor has found a surprising and valuable new addition to the unassuming residential flagpole.